Photo gallery for the three-day, three-fire road trip

Earlier today we wrote about the three-day, three-fire, three-state road trip where a group of us boarded a very comfortable bus, or coach, and toured the sites of three large fires that occurred last fall in North Carolina, Georgia, and Tennessee.

Here are some photos, taken by Bill Gabbert. If you click on a photo, you’ll see larger versions. The captions are in the top-left.

5 thoughts on “Photo gallery for the three-day, three-fire road trip”

I was in my cabin on the mountain the night of the Gatlinburg fire. I discovered the fire by chance as if I had waited two minutes, I would have perished. I was the first civilian allowed back on the mountain and I’ve got lots of pictures of the destruction right after it happened. Much of what you saw was sanitized compared to December 1st. If you wish to see them I’ll be happy to share them and share my experience with the inept way this was handled.

are you willing to share your story and photos with a mere civie (ex firefighter though) ? im very interested in that fire and what all transpired .im in California,and have seen some nasty fires,but that one got me. id like to learn more from someone who was there.

Wow. It is a “green forest” again within the Chimney Top 2 “fire scar”. Imagine that —-after a wildfire burned in predominantly deciduous forest and shrub fuel types followed by fairly mild winter temperatures and ample winter precipitation. But fourteen civilians are still dead! Accountability? Nature marches on

I also was there when the fire came burning toward my home. None of your pictures shows how dangerous and destructive Chimney Tops 2 was. The fire had fuel in the National Park, but nothing like when it entered the city of Gatlinburg. The flames were about 2-3 feet high as I watched it approach the park boundary/
city limits (and my home), from the National Park, burning leaves and duff on the ground. When our homes began burning, the flames reached 20, 30, 40 feet high. There will be another fire and I want to know what’s going to be done differently to stop it. The Anna Porter Public Library in Gatlinburg has been collecting personal accounts of survivors. You may get additional information there. I also have post-fire photos of my neighborhood which is the northern boundary of GSMNP. If you want to experience what the fire was really like, view on You Tube – Michael Luciano Escapes Gatlinburg Fire.